(Ella's POV)
“Thermos!” Percy screamed as we hurtled toward the water.
“What?” Annie must’ve thought he’d lost his mind. She was holding on to the boat straps for dear life, her hair flying straight up like a torch. I wasn't less panicked than she was.
But Tyson understood. He managed to open Percy's duffel bag & take out Hermes’s magical thermos without losing his grip on it or the boat.
Arrows & javelins whistled past us.
I grabbed the thermos & said. “Hang on!”
“I am hanging on!” Annie yelled.
“Tighter!” I said.
I hooked my feet under the boat’s inflatable bench, & Tyson grabbed Annie & me by the backs of our shirts, Percy gave the thermos cap a quarter turn.
Instantly, a white sheet of wind jetted out of the thermos & propelled us sideways, turning our downward plummet into a forty-five-degree crash landing.
The wind seemed to laugh as it shot from the thermos, like it was glad to be free. As we hit the ocean, we bumped once, twice, skipping like a stone, then we were whizzing along like a speed boat, salt spray in our faces & nothing but sea ahead.
I heard a wail of outrage from the ship behind us, but we were already out of weapon range. The Princess Andromeda faded to the size of a white toy boat in the distance, & then it was gone.
As we raced over the sea, Annie, Percy & I tried to send an Iris-message to Chiron. We figured it was important we let somebody know what Luke was doing, & we didn’t know who else to trust.
The wind from the thermos stirred up a nice sea spray that made a rainbow in the sunlight-perfect for an Iris-message-but our connection was still poor.
When Annie threw a gold drachma into the mist & prayed for the rainbow goddess to show us Chiron, his face appeared all right, but there was some kind of weird strobe light flashing in the background & rock music blaring, like he was at a dance club.
We told him about sneaking away from camp, and Luke & the Princess Andromeda & the golden box for Kronos’s remains, but between the noise on his end & the rushing wind & water on our end, I’m not sure how much he heard.
“Percy,” Chiron yelled, “you have to watch out for-“
His voice was drowned out by loud shouting behind him-a bunch of voices whooping it up like Comanche warriors.
“What?” Percy yelled.
“Curse my relatives!” Chiron ducked as a plate flew over his head & shattered somewhere out of sight. “Nora, you shouldn’t have let Percy leave camp! But if you do get the Fleece-“
“Yeah, baby!” somebody behind Chiron yelled. “Woo-hoooooo!”
The music got cranked up, subwoofers so loud it made our boat vibrate.
“-Miami,” Chiron was yelling. “I’ll try to keep watch-“
Our misty screen smashed apart like someone on the other side had thrown a bottle at it, & Chiron was gone.
An hour later we spotted land-a long stretch of beach lined with high-rise hotels. The water became crowded with fishing boats & tankers. A coast guard cruiser passed on our starboard side, then turned like it wanted a second look. I guess it isn’t every day they see a yellow lifeboat with no engine going a
hundred knots an hour, manned by four kids.
“That’s Virginia Beach!” Annie said as we approached the shoreline. “Oh my gods, how did the Princess Andromeda travel so far overnight? That’s like-“
“Five hundred and thirty nautical miles,” Percy said.
We stared at him & Annie asked. “How did you know that?”
“I-I’m not sure.”
I thought for a moment. “Percy, what’s our position?”
“36 degrees, 44 minutes north, 76 degrees, 2 minutes west,” He said immediately. Then he shook his head. “Whoa. How did I know that?”
“Because of your dad,” I guessed. “When you’re at sea, you have perfect bearings. That's so cool.”
Tyson tapped my shoulder. “Other boat is coming.”
I looked back. The coast guard vessel was definitely on our tail now. Its lights were flashing & it was gaining speed.
“We can’t let them catch us,” Percy said. “They’ll ask too many questions.”
“Keep going into Chesapeake Bay,” Annabeth said. “I know a place we can hide.”
I didn’t ask what she meant, or how she knew the area so well. Percy risked loosening the thermos cap a little more, & a fresh burst of wind sent us rocketing around the northern tip of Virginia Beach into Chesapeake Bay.
The coast guard boat fell farther & farther behind. We didn’t slow down until the shores of the bay narrowed on either side, & I realized we’d entered the mouth of a river.
Percy seemed tired & frazzled, like he was coming down off a sugar high. I asked him.
"Perce? You okay?" He just nodded weakly.
“There,” Annie said. “Past that sandbar.”
We veered into a swampy area choked with marsh grass & beached the lifeboat at the foot of a giant cypress. Vine-covered trees loomed above us. Insects chirred in the woods. The air was muggy & hot, & steam curled off the river. Basically, it wasn’t
Manhattan, & I didn’t like it.
“Come on,” Annie said. “It’s just down the bank.”
“What is?” I asked.
“Just follow.” She grabbed a duffel bag. “And we’d better cover the boat. We don’t want to draw attention.”
After burying the lifeboat with branches, Percy, Tyson & I followed Annie, our feet sinking in red mud. A snake slithered past my shoe & disappeared into the grass.
“Not a good place,” Tyson said. He swatted the mosquitoes that were forming a buffet line on his arm.
After a few minutes, Annie said, “Here.”
All I saw was a patch of brambles. Then she moved aside a woven circle of branches, like a door, & I realized I was looking into a camouflaged shelter.
The inside was big enough for four, even with Tyson being the fourth. The walls were woven from plant material, like a Native American hut, but they looked pretty waterproof.
Stacked in the corner was everything you could want for a campout-sleeping bags, blankets, an ice chest, & a kerosene lamp. There were demigod provisions, too-bronze javelin tips, a quiver full of arrows, an extra sword, and a box of ambrosia. The place smelled musty, like it had been vacant for a long time.
“A half-blood hideout.” I looked at Annie in awe. You made this place?”
“Thalia and I,” she said quietly. “And Luke.”
That shouldn’t have bothered me. I mean, I knew my sister, Thalia & Luke had taken care of Annie when she was little. I knew the three of them had been runaways together, hiding from monsters, surviving on their own before Grover found them & tried to get them to Half-Blood Hill.
But whenever Annie talked about the time she’d spent with them, I kind of felt...I don’t know. Uncomfortable?
No. That’s not the word.
The word was jealous...
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Take care my lovely readers.❤️
Alice signing off.
XOXO.
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